Civil Rights

Read more about civil rights and schools, enforcement by the Education Department's office for civil rights, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, Title IX, and more

Explainer

The U.S. Department of Education, in Washington, D.C., pictured on February 21, 2021.
How a Federal Office Investigates and Resolves Discrimination Complaints Against Schools
What is OCR, how do you file a complaint, and what relief can it offer for students or staff whose civil rights may have been violated?
View Explainer
This is the Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building in Washington, D.C., on Monday, May 5, 2025.
The Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building in Washington is shown on May 5, 2025. A federal judge who ordered the department to restore laid-off staffers to its office for civil rights says the agency hasn't "substantially complied" with his order.
Gene J. Puskar/AP
Law & Courts Ed. Dept. Hasn't Complied With Order to Restore Civil Rights Staff, Judge Says
The judge also said a high court ruling allowing layoffs at the Education Department shouldn't affect a separate case on agency cutbacks.
Brooke Schultz, August 13, 2025
•
4 min read
Children raise their hands while participating in activities during the East Providence Boys and Girls Club Summer Camp at Emma G. Whiteknact Elementary School on July 10, 2025, in Providence R.I.
Children raise their hands while participating in activities during the East Providence Boys and Girls Club Students participate in a Boys and Girls Club Summer Camp at Emma G. Whiteknact Elementary School on July 10, 2025, in Providence, R.I. The Boys and Girls Club runs summer camps, and before- and after-school programs, across the country funded with the help of federal education funds.
Sophie Park/AP
Education Funding Trump Releases $1.4 Billion He Withheld From After-School Programs
More than $5 billion for education remains frozen.
Mark Lieberman, July 18, 2025
•
6 min read
Penny Schwinn, nominee for deputy secretary of education for the Department of Education, and Kimberly Richey, nominee for assistant secretary for civil rights in the Department of Education, appear before the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee in Washington, D.C., on June 5, 2025.
Penny Schwinn, the nominee for deputy secretary of education for the U.S. Department of Education, appears before the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee in Washington on June 5, 2025. Both she and the Trump administration's nominee for the agency's office of civil rights are now cleared for a full vote by the Senate.
Jason Andrew for Education Week
Federal Penny Schwinn Advances for Full Senate Approval for Ed. Dept.'s No. 2 Job
A U.S. Senate education committee advanced the nominations of Schwinn and Kimberly Richey for a full chamber vote.
Brooke Schultz, June 27, 2025
•
2 min read
Runners take off from the starting line for the 2A girls championship cross country race on Oct. 28, 2023, at the Norris Penrose Event Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Runners take off from the starting line for the 2A girls championship cross-country race on Oct. 28, 2023, at the Norris Penrose Event Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. The Trump administration is proposing a change to a school athletics rule under Title IX, but doing it through the U.S. Department of Energy rather than the Department of Education.
Parker Seibold/The Gazette via AP
Federal The U.S. Department of Energy Is Trying to Change a Title IX Rule. Why?
Proposals from the U.S. Department of Energy show buy-in from across the administration for the president's view of gender identity.
Brooke Schultz, June 19, 2025
•
6 min read
Demonstrators gather to protest outside of the offices of the U.S. Department of Education in Washington on March 21, 2025 after President Trump signed an executive order to shut down the government agency.
Demonstrators gather to protest outside of the offices of the U.S. Department of Education in Washington on March 21, 2025, after President Donald Trump signed an executive order aiming to shut down the government agency. A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the Trump administration to restore staffers to the department's office for civil rights, which enforces anti-discrimination laws in the nation's schools.
Bryan Dozier/NurPhoto via AP
Law & Courts Court Again Tells Trump Admin. to Restore Laid-Off Ed. Dept. Staffers
The judge was ruling in a case that challenged staff cuts and office closures at the Education Department's office for civil rights
Matthew Stone, June 19, 2025
•
5 min read
President Donald Trump takes a question from a reporter during an event signing a bill blocking California's rule banning the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035, in the East Room of the White House on June 12, 2025, in Washington.
President Donald Trump takes a question from a reporter during an event where he signed a resolution blocking California's rule banning the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035 in the East Room of the White House on June 12, 2025. Trump's administration has reportedly discussed halting "formula funds" to the state's education department.
Alex Brandon/AP
Education Funding Trump Admin. Says California’s K-12 Funding Is at Risk. What Would It Mean?
Title I and IDEA funding could be caught up in the battle between the White House and the largest state, which is led by Democrats.
Mark Lieberman, June 12, 2025
•
10 min read
Deputy Secretary of Education nominee Penny Schwinn, left, and Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights nominee Kimberly Richey prior to testifying before the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee about their nominations for the Department of Education in Washington, D.C., on June 5, 2025.
Penny Schwinn, left, and Kimberly Richey speak prior to testifying before the U.S. Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee in Washington on June 5, 2025. Schwinn is President Donald Trump's nominee to serve as deputy secretary in the U.S. Department of Education. Richey is Trump's nominee to lead the department's office for civil rights.
Jason Andrew for Education Week
Federal Republicans Press Top Ed. Dept. Nominees to Commit to Trump's Agenda
Penny Schwinn and Kimberly Richey appeared before lawmakers for leadership in the department.
Brooke Schultz, June 5, 2025
•
6 min read
A hand on the scale weighed against a pile of books.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty + Education Week
Federal Opinion 'Narrower, Meaner, and More Loyal:' Trump’s Ed. Agenda Hurts Students Like Me
How President Trump is weaponizing education policy—and why it matters.
J.T. Vazquez, June 3, 2025
•
4 min read
A marquee outside the Massapequa High School is backdropped by a "Chiefs" mascot mural, in Massapequa, N.Y., on April 25, 2025.
A marquee outside Massapequa High School in Massapequa, N.Y., is backdropped by a Chiefs mascot mural on April 25, 2025. The U.S. Department of Education is backing the district's attempts to hold onto the mascot despite state rules forbidding such depictions of Native Americans.
Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP
Federal Trump Admin. Gives New York 10 Days to End Its Ban on Native American Mascots
The decision marks a reversal in a nationwide effort to retire Native American school mascots.
Brooke Schultz, May 30, 2025
•
8 min read
Trump legal lawsuits
Laura Baker/Education Week via Canva
Federal What 100 Ed. Dept. Investigations Say About Trump's Agenda for Schools
Education Week has confirmed 100 Education Department investigations aligned with key Trump administration priorities.
Brooke Schultz, May 22, 2025
•
10 min read
Alejandra Rodriguez, 9, of Key Largo, Fla., watches as college students protest in support of the Department of Education, Thursday, March 20, 2025, outside the department in Washington.
Nine-year-old Alejandra Rodriguez of Key Largo, Fla., watches as college students protest in support of the Department of Education on March 20, 2025, outside the federal agency in Washington. A federal judge has ordered the department to reinstate all staff it has terminated since President Donald Trump's inauguration.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
Federal Judge Tells Trump Admin. to Reverse Education Department Layoffs
The order also blocks the transfer of department functions to other agencies as well as an executive order aimed at dismantling the agency.
Brooke Schultz, May 22, 2025
•
7 min read
Image of the White House, Capitol, the Supreme Court building, and a school.
Laura Baker/Education Week via Canva.
Federal How Trump Has Changed Schools in His First 100 Days: A Timeline
Schools have experienced an unprecedented quantity and velocity of K-12 policy shifts in President Donald Trump’s first 100 days.
Jennifer Vilcarino, April 29, 2025
•
1 min read
Chiefs signs and logos are at Massapequa High School in Massapequa, N.Y., on April 25, 2025.
Chiefs signs and logos are at Massapequa High School in Massapequa, N.Y., on April 25, 2025.
Ted Shaffrey/AP
Federal Trump Wades Into DEI Fight Over Native American Mascots in Schools
Scholars and Native American activists have long pushed back on schools’ use of such images.
Brooke Schultz, April 28, 2025
•
6 min read
Sarah Hinger (center), deputy director of the ACLU Racial Justice Program, takes questions from reporters after oral arguments in a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of New Hampshire seeking to block the Trump administration from requiring public schools to end DEI programs on April 17, 2025.
Sarah Hinger (center), deputy director of the ACLU racial justice program, takes questions from reporters after oral arguments in a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of New Hampshire seeking to block the Trump administration from requiring public schools to end DEI programs on April 17, 2025. Two federal judges on Thursday issued orders limiting the Trump administration's ability to enforce its anti-DEI directives to schools and colleges.
Courtesy of Ethan DeWitt/New Hampshire Bulletin
Law & Courts Trump Can't Enforce Anti-DEI Directives in Schools, 3 Judges Say
Three judges, including two Trump appointees, said the administration had overstepped its authority in its efforts to rid schools of DEI.
Matthew Stone, April 24, 2025
•
7 min read
Load More ▼